Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Marathon is this weekend

That's what participants who compete in the second annual Delaware & Lehigh Heritage Marathon & Half Marathon will have an opportunity to do.

The event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 4. The half marathon starts at 8 a.m., while the marathon will begin at 8:10 a.m. Registration is still open.

Proceeds raised from the race will benefit the D&L National Heritage Corridor, Inc., as well as trail maintenance so that runners, cyclists and walkers can continue to use and enjoy the trail.

Last year's inaugural event attracted 525 runners from 15 states and the District of Columbia.

Elissa Garofalo, president, of the D&L Heritage Corridor, said about 700 runners are expected to compete in this year's event, which generally runs from Northampton Borough up into East Penn Township, with the finish line beneath the Route 873 Bridge at Lehigh Gap.

"We made improvements on the course, based on comments last year," Garofalo said. "We expect it to be at least as good, if not better than, last year's event."

However, Garofalo stressed that with the prospect of Hurricane Sandy, "our office is pulling everything out that we need, and we expect that by Thursday, we will go out, assess, as we expect there will probably be some trees down, some erosion."

"It is our firm intent to have the event on Sunday," she said. "First and foremost, people need to take care of their personal well-being, and for the event, runners' safety is going to be our primary concern."

The D&L Trail is part of a larger, multiuse trail network that currently connects 250 miles of trails throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with plans to add 500 more miles of trail to the system in the coming years.

Referred to as "The Circuit", the trail network stretches across the Greater Philadelphia area, and will address economic and social issues by fostering economic development, boosting tourism, creating jobs and improving market value of real estate near trail corridors, while increasing access to open space.

The Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation that is building the D&L Trail and fostering stewardship of historical, cultural and natural resources along the historic canals and railroads that transported anthracite coal from mines to markets in eastern Pennsylvania.